Randal Houle's Blog

Is My Dog A Better Christian Than Me?

Nikki, is the Lhasa Apso that is technically my wife’s, but I also get to borrow the dog when she’s not around, or when she needs help caring for the almost 12-13 year old dog. (Shelley says she is actually 11, but we really do not know for sure).

How I got a dog for my wife one Christmas

But this story is about the day I smacked the little fur-ball square in the face with a door.

I was coming home from work. On a typical day, I stand at the bottom of the stairs and call for our little Lhasa Apso, Nikki, so she can be walked. She is usually standing on guard in the window sill, quietly waiting for us, or sleeping on one of her several giant pillows.

Walking at this hour is not only healthy for me, but necessary for the dog. We usually don’t leave her longer than 4-6 hours at a time, since she’s a little older and any longer than that, well, it’s just not good.

On this particular day, I pushed the door open pretty hard. The dog is always upstairs. Always.

Except this particular time, when the full force of the door hit her square in the face. She shook her head and came to me, I apologized. I looked into her eyes. She was a little shaken, but she still walked up to me as if to tell me, “You can smack me with the door, but I’m still going to love you.”

Naturally, I felt horrible, and the whole walk was spent checking her eyes, to make sure she was good to go. She kept shaking her head, and eventually, she walked normally and did everything that she normally does. Except when the walk was done, she usually collapses at my feet (after eating a treat), this time, though, she jumped up on my lap after we were done with our walk.

If somebody smacked me in the face, I probably wouldn’t jump on their lap and offer them kisses, just a guess. It got me thinking, is my dog a better christian than I am?

Sometimes life hits us in the nose and we get upset. I’ve certainly had my share of “shaking my fist at thee” moments.

What I learned from my Lhasa Apso that day was, circumstances do not have to dictate love. Sometimes it is difficult, but it is that difficulty that G-d calls us to shake our heads and move on, and love, love, love. No matter what.

I’m not sure how I can apply that totally to my life. I mean, there are some sonsuvbitches out there. Can we love through the hate? Is it possible? Do we have the strength? Is it possible to view a suicide bomber with as much empathy and love as his victims? Can I love as unconditionally as my dog (who approaches every creature with care and interest – except birds, which she chases with utter joy).

These are tough questions during difficult times, but true forgiveness is the easiest concept to talk about, but likely the most difficult to practice. A practice that I admit, I sometimes fail.

Making my dog, by far, the better Christian.

[image error]How could you not love this dog?

 

 

Mystery Writers Seminar June 24 — Mystery Writers of America — Northwest Chapter

Ever wonder just what it takes to write a story so compelling that readers will flock to it, rave about it, and make it popular beyond your wildest imaginings? Ever wonder how you can push past the growing throngs of fellow writers and get readers, reviewers, and the public in general to give your book more […]

via Mystery Writers Seminar June 24 — Mystery Writers of America — Northwest Chapter

Meet Nikki, my wife’s dog

A few years ago, I got my wife a dog for Christmas. She had talked for years about getting one, but it was never really the right time. Our house was still quite full of kids and people going in and out and we didn’t always have a backyard and don’t dogs need those?

Then there was a time when we had the back yard and Shelley couldn’t stop doing searches online for dogs. “Oh, look at this one. And this, oh, he’s so cute.” It went on for days.

Then came the Christmas where no gift seemed right. Then I listened during one of those searches and it occurred to me. Get your wife one of those cute dogs that she wants.

So I went to the pound, because where else would you get a dog, I mean they are literally overrunning with them. Please support your Humane Society.

Anyhow, this one had to be the most aloof dog I have ever met. It didn’t seem to care that I wanted to give it attention, it didn’t come when called, not disobediently, but just kind of on its own time. Eventually it did come to me and check me out.

The dog had a large growth on its hind leg, she smelled funny, and I already told you about the aloof thing. This was the breed of dog that my wife was fawning over. The reasonable thing to do would be to walk away.

So, I adopted the dog and brought her home. She immediately went to my wife. She seemed to know who she belonged to.

Not that she doesn’t prefer my company, so long as there aren’t any other choices.

We finally did remove the tumor, it was benign. She also suffered four a skin allergy, which we also medicated her for but she continues to have ear issues. I guess she had been there for several months, int he pound, sleeping on concrete, surrounded by other dogs and all that entails (no pun intended). At first, she would bark at night, but she eventually calmed down and quickly became a part of the family. She even introduced herself to the cat, who had been an only pet for so long, and well, all that goes on with cats and dogs living in the same space.

The cat still hisses when the dog gets too close, they seem to have established their own boundaries and what and where each animal can go.

She sometimes has ear problems, but we keep up on her meds and keep her healthy. She’s an old dog, but she’s ours. I enjoy spending time with her and my wife is grateful for that Christmas present years ago.

 

Book Signing Event at Jan’s Paperbacks

When I decided to publish MASSIVE WASTE OF TALENT, it was a far thought to the idea of promoting it with book signings. I didn’t envision public events for the story collection. I just wasn’t sure if bookstores would get on board.

I’m glad that I was wrong. Enter Gary Corbin, author of the Mountain Man series and Lyin’ in Judgement. Gary has convinced me to press the flesh for this story collection, and Jan’s Paperbacks has also been hugely supportive.


[image error]On March 18th (Saturday) starting at 11 am, Gary and I will be signing our books. The event should go on until about 2 pm.

So if you are in the Beaverton area, stop by for a sneak peak at MASSIVE WASTE OF TALENT, take a selfie with the authors, and buy a book or two while you’re there. Jan’s is a terrific bookstore and that’s what rainy Saturdays in the Northwest are for, AMIRIGHT?

While I’m on the subject, one of my other critique partners, Kelly Garrett, will have her debut novel, THE LAST TO DIE, published by Poisoned Pen Press in April. She also has a story in the most recent Poisoned Pen Anthology. Buy that AFTER you buy MASSIVE WASTE OF TALENT.

That time I voted for President and my candidate lost.

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This is my first confession, on this blog, and I’ve been thinking about writing this blog post since the 2012 election. Unfortunately, I was afraid that many people, some of them my well meaning friends, might misinterpret my purpose. I allow that this may still happen even now, but I must get this off of my chest.
Many of you are down about the election results. I have to say, I really understand. No, I don’t understand in th

at way that people say, “I’m sorry that happened, and I understand why you are upset.”
And I don’t mean that I understand because I feel exactly the way you do. I would not presume that much.
I mean, every Presidential election that I have voted in, the candidate I have voted for has lost. In case you haven’t guessed, I voted for Clinton this year.
And there goes half of my audience.
But what if I told you that I had voted Republican since 1992?
And… there goes the other half.

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I was a young Republican. This “choice” was aided by an upbringing as an evangelical. I am very glad that my life’s journey has taken me on this course, through a post-evangelical existence, but I cannot revise my personal history. At each decision point, I felt and still do, that I had valid reasons for voting the way I did.
Throughout the 90’s “the Clintons” were the bad guys. During a campaign stop in Longview, Washington in 1996, I saw Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as Al and Elizabeth Gore. Gore said he “felt at home” around so many trees (Longview is one of many “Tree City USAs) and he delivered this with a wooden inflection.
Bill Clinton was truly charismatic. I could feel why people followed him in the general election. As the candidates left the field (this was in front of the high school where I graduated no less!) through a corridor created by temporary fencing and watchful secret service agents, I stood nearly right on the temporary fencing. I had my toddler daughter in one arm, and I put the other out to shake the President’s hand. He took it. I think he even smiled at my daughter (which is not meant to be some underhanded joke). I was over the moon about actually seeing with my own eyes the person that ran the country! Here was the guy. He was tall! He was energetic! He smiled at my daughter!
I still voted for Dole. I was a RED voter, after all. Dole was humble and served in a war. That was enough for me. Just give me the guy with the “R” next to his name.
In the late nineties I was in my late twenties. My views on the world were changing. My limited world hemmed in by other people’s opinions was not enough. There was the whole spiritual wanderlust that I had succumbed to (and the subject of a future confession). By the 2000 election, I was looking for something politically different. I attended a Ralph Nader rally.
It was amazing. There was so much energy. There were at least 10,000 people there. My grandfather had spoken highly of him and so it became a question whether this might be a viable direction for my fledgling support.
But he wanted to tax profit at 100%. That’s just dumb.
Then, the Republican primary was underway. I felt a great sense of hope and pride as Elizabeth Dole, former President of the Red Cross and wife of the aforementioned Bob Dole, ran for the nomination. I readied myself for her to make her way across the electoral map so I could help win Washington for the first woman President.
And then she was annihilated by Bush in New Hampshire. Something about how that went down really bothered me. Sure, there was McCain, the Maverick, but even he was beat by the Bush campaign machine. As George Bush won the nomination, I knew I would not be voting for him. But Gore, who had so much in common with the trees in my hometown four years before, didn’t seem like an option for me either.
So I stayed out of it and the ensuing legal battle that gave us Bush. And two wars. And Guantanamo. And, and, and…
2004, I refused to vote for him again. The Republicans were beginning to lose me over Iraq and the Patriot Act. Don’t even get me started on water-boarding. Still, not ready to vote Democrat (John Kerry that year).

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In 2008, my single issue was Guantanamo and the torturing and mistreatment of prisoners. It’s inhumane anywhere, the things that were going on and it needed to stop. The people being held there (for even terrorists are people) were not charged, not in any type of system that any fair-minded person would consider balanced with jurisprudence.
Obama promised to close Guantanamo in the first 100 days and he had vanquished Hillary Clinton, the evil witch of the nineties (tongue in cheek). But Obama was new, fresh and without much of a record. He sounded good, but John McCain had been a POW and didn’t he know how it was? Surely he would be the way to resolve this horrible policy of mistreatment that HAD to be solved within the Republican party, after all.
We got our first African-American President, instead. I teared up at his Inauguration. There were reservations. He was a Democrat, after all. As President, he had my support, even though I still identified as a Republican.
2012 Obama ran for re-election. He had proven a worthy President, able and even-tempered. Republicans hadn’t even really given him a chance. He still hadn’t closed Guantanamo, there was progress, but there was Mitt Romney who had turned some companies around, maybe he could…
I knew it even then, that I was casting my last vote for Republicans. I still hadn’t made the leap to vote Democratic Party. It just seemed very weird to me.
Then the Republicans validated every second-guessing I ever did. Trump, by far, earned my distrust with his language, his choice of words, the grossness that didn’t belong in the long line of very refined politicians that had represented the GOP in the past. People like Dole, McCain, and Romney. Humble people who served their party and gave graceful concession speeches. I knew, because I listened to all of them.
I had voted for them.
They had lost.
Each and every one of them had lost.
In 2016, as there wasn’t one GOP candidate that stood out for me (my single issue this year was Immigration – I believe in open borders and open minds – and of course, Guantanamo is still open – Obama did what he could, but there are still human beings (and they are) being held in limbo and their basic human rights are not being protected).
Bernie Sanders was different (echoes of Nader without the unworkable positions). I followed him as he gathered support across the country and went with my wife to Caucus for him where we won 80% of our Caucus!
He was different.
He might mean change.
But, he lost to Hillary Clinton. The GOP was not going to get my vote. I was not going to sit it out this time.
I started thinking about Hillary Clinton. About how I had passed up the chance to vote for Obama. I started thinking about over 200 years of white males being President and what it meant now that that wasn’t true.
I thought of Elizabeth Dole and how excited I was at the very early prospect of a female President!
I analyzed why I distrusted Hillary so much. I had seen her in the flesh, after all. She used the wrong email server? Something like that. Why did I care? I caucused for Bernie. I would have gone door to door for Elizabeth Dole.
Why not Hillary?
Her only crime being that she had been a public Democrat in the nineties?
I started putting out feelers to my friends and family. Some were aghast. Some were ecstatic. Others didn’t care. With the implosion of reason in the GOP and myself having already gone “all-in” for Sanders, I started re-examining my position on Hillary.
I, a former young Republican and former Evangelical, had become a fan of Hillary Clinton.
I swelled with pride as she shimmied to the finish line. I enthusiastically voted for her (by mail in Washington).
Then, she lost.
I will defend that vote to my dying breath, as I will every vote I have taken. For each decision was made at the time with care and thoughtfulness, as much as I could bear at that point in my life. One day, I hope to vote for a winning President, but I would settle for voting for the losing candidate and the right side of history every time. I have not given up support for the next female President. The next ___ President. Until they keep winning.

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Until then…,
Every single Presidential candidate that I have voted for has lost and so when I say that “I understand” how you feel, dear Clinton supporter, I really, really, really mean it. [image error]

The David Bowie Experience

I am writing this post just days after Bowie’s death after an eighteen month battle with cancer. There has been much said about his life and work as an artist that I felt I might like to share my own Bowie experience.

That is to say, an intersection of backgrounds and curiosities on my part. I cannot say that I ever interacted with his art the way others have. Certainly, in the last ten or so years, I have appreciated him more than in my early life. Many stories have poured out during the last few days. Stories of seeing him in concert, or meeting him in person. I have to say, I missed the whole thing.

I did watch Labyrinth in theaters. I saw him on MTV a couple times.

If you think this is an anti-Bowie post, you’re wrong, quite the opposite. It’s just that I’ve come to appreciate some of the greats a little later in life. The Beetles would also fit in this category. Only recently have I grown to appreciate the absolute brilliance of Jim Morrison’s poetry-rock. Johnny Cash, Elvis, and extending to writers of yore: David Foster Wallace, Raymond Carver, Hemingway, et al. Sometimes I come to things later than everyone else. This is a product of who I am.

Those of you that know me well understand my early fundamentalist conditioning. Rock and Roll was evil, not just frowned upon. Devil music. From that point of view, Bowie was a strange proof of how society was being led straight to hell. A lanky, tall, Pied Piper with spiky hair and a voice with a four octave range… he had to be of the devil.

This is the greatness of the writer, performer, artist that is David Bowie: that someone without a direct fan connection recognizes the profound impact that the artist has had on creativity in the western world, and on someone like myself.

And still, his songs play in my head: Under Pressure, Major Tom, Changes. The tip of the iceberg, no doubt.

Fortunately for me, the chains of that limited perspective have been broken. It’s now, in my middle years, that I have come to a mature appreciation of the man and the artist. And it’s more than just the music, the poetry, the over the top performances. It’s also the masculinity of a man that completely embraces the feminine. A lot of people have called that gender bending, and that might be accurate. I never met him, so I cannot know for sure, but I believe Bowie might call it being human.

 

Indie Book Stores Take Over Former Borders Locations | GalleyCat

Indie Book Stores Take Over Former Borders Locations | GalleyCat.

This was exactly what I was thinking the other day. The old Borders location near me is still empty. It sits on the corner of some of the county’s busiest streets. The location has further benefits as it is near the most affluent neighborhoods.

Whole Foods is next door and it is surrounded by restaurants and shopping.

I know that local indie store, Cover to Cover recently closed, but could location make that much difference?

Borders had to shut down, but their business model killed them, not their great locations.

Could this be Powell’s Vancouver?

The poetry of produce

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Isn’t it wonderful when you are strolling through life and you notice that someone takes particular pride in his or her work? This stack of carrots did not happen randomly. It was, rather, painstaking step by tiny step toward a vision of perfection.

Big 6 Traditional Publishers make bold moves to secure more Twitter followers

BIG 6 Traditional Publishers


 

Followers June 20, 2011

Followers June 10, 2013

Pct. Change


HarperCollins

57,525

170,919

297%

Penguin

221,481

563,114

254%

Macmillan

114,780

290,538

253%

Simon & Schuster

148,905

363,051

244%

Random House

429,701

985,068

229%

Hachette

173,039

337,392

195%

The 2011 numbers come from an article that appeared in Publishers Weekly and is available online here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/47695-the-top-five-twitter-feeds-for-the-six-largest-publishing-houses.html

The 2013 update was done by Wink/Nudge to further a discussion about book selling, publishing and social media. As you may know, I recently presented a workshop at Summer in Words conference. The entire workshop was live tweeted and several blog posts were made available for attendees and the public here.

The above data shows an increase in Twitter follows by an average of 237%. A further examination, thanks in part to the above referenced Publishers Weekly article, can be made by imprint. Here is the raw data:

Imprint

Followers

HarperCollins

57,525

170,919

297%

1
@HarperTeen

15,292

44,636

292%

2
@zondervan

12,279

30,276

247%

3
@HarperPerennial

11,656

31,014

266%

4
@HarperCollins

10,252

51,400

501%

5
@BookClubGirl

8,046

13,593

169%

Simon & Schuster

148,905

363,051

244%

1
@simonschuster

122,660

286,433

234%

2
@ScribnerBooks

7,920

25,977

328%

3
@freepressbooks

6,852

15,641

228%

now @sohopress


4
@AtriaBooks

6,020

18,496

307%

5
@SimonTEEN

5,453

16,504

303%

Penguin

221,481

563,114

254%

1
@penguinusa

183,477

448,305

244%

2
@PenguinPbks

18,006

51,777

288%

3
@PenguinClassics

10,214

31,458

308%

4
@PenguinTeen

9,784

31,574

323%

Hachette

173,039

337,392

195%

1
@littlebrown

141,507

260,728

184%

2
@GrandCentralPub

12,406

31,165

251%

3
@orbitbooks

8,554

17,416

204%

4
@FaithWords

5,143

7,922

154%

5
@HachetteBooks

5,429

20,161

371%

Random House

429,701

985,068

229%

1
@randomhouse

193,845

445,894

230%

2
@AAKnopf

104,638

193,993

185%

3
@fodorstravel

104,623

274,924

263%

4
@randomhousekids

14,943

38,337

257%

5
@VintageAnchor

11,652

31,920

274%

Macmillan

114,780

290,538

253%

1
@torbooks

83,892

193,212

230%

2
@FSGbooks

14,522

44,210

304%

3
@PicadorUSA

8,992

23,953

266%

4
@HenryHolt:

4,722

14,585

309%

5
@StMartinsPress

2,652

14,578

550%

Every imprint experienced tremendous growth. The largest of the follower shifts by percentage are: St. Martins Press, Harper Collins, and Hachette Books in distant third. Part of St. Martin’s position is owed to such a meager following to begin with, So too with Hachette. But still, one must begin somewhere. But compare actual growth of @randomhouse (over 250k new followers) and you may make the argument that the big winners are the ones that were early and big to the game. (Penguin USA likewise garnered an additional 250k followers in the two year span.)

The imprints with the largest number of followers within each group also tweeted the most:

KLOUT SCORE

#TWEETS

@HarperCollins

51,400

93

23,645

@penguinusa

448,305

79

19,844

@randomhouse

445,894

79

16,583

@torbooks

193,212

87

11,872

@littlebrown

260,728

69

11,402

@simonschuster

286,433

72

8,617

LOWEST # FOLLWERS




@HarperPerennial

31,014

83

8,613

@StMartinsPress

14,578

67

5,976

@FaithWords

7,922

50

5,829

@VintageAnchor

31,920

58

4,648

@freepressbooks

15,641

44

2,204

@PenguinClassics

31,458

67

889

But are the tweets reaching potential readers?

Even though @HarperCollins is tweeting twice for every follower it has, this brute force approach is growing their following and their KLOUT score of 93 shows this. Compare that to the behemoths of the study, @penguinusa and @randomhouse which post solid numbers and a super KLOUT score of 79 each. @freepressbooks is hurt by a low number of tweets. Look for @StMartinsPress to continue to skyrocket in both followers and KLOUT as they continue to engage their audience with witty and intimate tweets that engage 15-20 followers per post (on the high end).

For all of the above, the posts that got the most engagement with readers, according to KLOUT.com, had little to do with books, buying books or individual stories. In fact most posts about a particular project garnered 2-4 engagements. This is by no means scientific, but the data seems to point in the direction of our main subject at Summer in Words conference and that is you must understand your market and engage them where they live, and talk to them about what THEY want to talk about. BEFORE you can start blabbering on about your project and how great it is.

Registration for Summer in Words 2013 is now open

Registration for Summer in Wrods now open.

Summer in Words

Since space is limited, early registration is suggested. Discounted rates for hotel rooms at the Hallmark Inn and Resort are available through May 20.

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